Vulcanizer.



W. F. RAY

VULCANIZER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2. 1918.

Patented Mar. 4,

VULCANIZER,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Application filed October 2, 1918. Serial No. 256,571.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. RAY, a citizen of the l nited States, residing at Chi cage, in the county of Cool: and State Illinois, have invented a new and useful linprovernent iu Yulcanizers, of which the following); is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to vnl canizers employing steam as a means of vulcanizing rubber products, such as automobile tires, interliners, inner tubes, etc.

The primary object is to provide a Yulcanixer adapted to produce a uniform cure of the rubber article undergoing treatment. it is particularly important, tor instance, that in the manufacture of rubber tires, interline s, tubes, etc. the articles shall be thoroughly and uniformly cured, and shall not be overcured at any point. here an overcurc occurs, the resiliency and flexibility is impaired, and the life of the tire, for example. is greatly shortened.

The invention is illustrated in its pr t'erred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in whiclr- Figure 1 represents an end view of a cylindrical vulcanizer embodying the,- inven tion. the door being swung open and the interior of the yulcanizer appearing in perspective; and Fig. 2, a broken sectional View taken as indicated at line 2 of Fig. 1.

in the construction illustrated, r represents the cylindrical body of the vulcanizer; A. the. door which serves to close the front end of the vulcanizer; B, B", a pair of steam; injecting devices for introducing steam into the vulcanizer; and C, a longitudinal track in the, lower portion of the \uilcanizer, adapted to enable a small truck, carrying a standard or standards, for supporting the articles. to be run into the \ulcanizer.

The body of the vulcanizer may conveniently be of a diameter of about six feet and of a length ol about fifteen to twenty feet. The dimensions may vary, or course, according to the capacity desired. The door A is supported on aa'ertical pivot. A, and maybe closed and secured in the usual manner.

The sic-am injectors l) and ii are so constructed and disposed as to produce circumi'rrential currents o'l steam adjacentthe inner c ,-'liiuh'ical surl'ace ot the vuhtanizer, alternate currents preferably 't assing in one direction, and the remaining alternate curinder A and connected with the pipe 1. by a T-fitting; and curved discharge pipes t and 6 connected by suitable fittings with the ends of the branch pipes 2 and 3 and extending in opposite directions circumferentially ad jacent the inner surface of the cylinder and having, respectively, discharge orifices 6 and 7 at the lower portion of the cylinder, the extremities of the-curved pipes projecting past each other, as indicated at the lower portion of Fig. 1.

Similar y, the steam injector B has a main pipe extending;- through the upper Wall of the cylinder some distance back of the injector B and equipped inside the cylinder with longitudinal branch pipes 2 and 3*, from which extend the. circumferential discharge pipes wt and 5, which have their dischar 'e orifices, respectively, at the points 6 and t. i

The discharged portions of the curved pipes extend below the rails of the track C.

From the description given, it will be understood thatv a plurality of steam discharge orifices are provided. so disposed as to produce circular currents of steam adjacent, the inner cylindrical wall of the vulcaniser,

Alternate currents, in the arrangement illus' t rated, pass in one direction. and the other alternate currents pass in the other direction, so that adjacent currents are moving: in opposite directions, but not directly op posed to each other, that is, as will he un- (lei-stood from Fig. 1, the orifices are stag Q'ered with relation to each other, The result is to produce circulating: currents of steam adjacent the inner surface of the rulcan'izer body. Thus; there produced an envelop of live steam adjacent the inner cylindrical all of the 'ulcanizerg and, there is more or less frictional engagement and meeting, ot the currents, the result is to produce a substantially uniform dittnsion of the live steam in an envelop imn'iediately inside of thecylindrical wall of the vulcanmer. i 0111 tillrlfllYElOl) the steam diffuses l and fills the interior of the vnlcanizer, so

vcomprising that a series of interliners, for illustration, supported on a longitudinal pipe carried by standards mounted on a truck on the track C will, in the operation of the vulcanizer, be subjected to a substantially uniform curing action, Without danger of overvulcanizing at any point. It Will be understood that in curing tires or inter-liners, which are of circular form, the articles are so supported on the truck or carriage as to lie in planes parallel With the ends of the vulcanizer and occupy the central space of the vulcanizer, that is, the space inside of the imaginary cylinder containing the pipes 5 and 5. Any heat radiated directly from the pipes 5 and 5?, is,.of course, substantially uniformly diffused in the envelop of steam created by the circulating currents.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearncss of understanding only and no unnecessary limitation should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vulcanizer. the combination with a vulcanizer body, of steam-injecting means a plurality of discharge orifices opening in a circun'rt'erential direction adjacent the inner surface of the \*all of said vulcanizer body and adapted to produce circumferentially circulating steam currents Within the body of the vulcanizer.

2. In a vulcanizer, the combination with a vulcanizer body, oi steam-injecting means comprising curved pipes forming an annular arrangement and having a plurality of discharge orifices disposed in ditlerent transverse planes. v

In a vulcanizer, the combination oi a cylindrical body, and steam-injecting means cylindrical body,

comprising a pipe equipped with longitudinal branches and curved discharge pipes extending from said branches circumferentially Within the cylinder.

4. In a vulcanizer, the combination of a cylindrical body, and steam-injecting means COlT1]')IiSl1lg a pipe equipped with longitudinal branches and curved discharge pipes cX-- tending from said branches in opposite di rections circumfercntially within the cylinder.

5. In a vulcanizer, the combination oi a cylindrical body, and means'tor injecting steam into said body comprising a plurality of circumferential pipes adjacent the inner surface of the cylindrical body, pipes having discharge orifices opening in one direction, and other of said pipes having discharge orifices opening in the opposite direction. 1

G. In a vulcanizer, the combination of a cylindrical body, and steamdnjecting means comprising a series of curved pipes forming an annulus, said pipes having overlapping ends in staggered relation, the orifices of alternate pipes opening in one direction and the orifices of the other alternate pipes opening in the opposite direction.

7. In a vulcaiiizer, the combination of a and a plurality of steammjecting devices, each of said devices comprising a main pipe and longitudinal branches extending from said pipe Within the upper portion of the cylindrical l'mcly. said branches of each injecting device being equipped with curved discharge pipes cX- tending in opposite directions circumferentially Within the cylindrical body and having discharge orifices disposed in staggcrcd relation at the lower portion or the cylindrical body.

\Vl LLIAM I RA Y.

some of said 

